1796, Russian empress Catherine the Great died. Overall, she led Russia pretty well. Under Catherine’s rule, Russia expanded to the Black Sea by defeating the Ottomans. She also got a big piece of Poland when it was partitioned by European powers. (Sorry, Poland.) Catherine also began colonizing Alaska and established the first institution of higher learning for women in Europe. To that intellectual end, she was fluent in French and corresponded with Voltaire for 15 years. He, who was so critical of French institutions, praised the Russian despot, calling her “The Star of the North.” She even reformed the political and bureaucratic structure of Russia. That having been said, she wasn’t the most tolerant of non-Orthodox adherents. She also spent over 10 percent of the state money on courtly life, especially favoring her many lovers. But neither of those things was unusual for the 18th century. That she died having sex with a horse would have been unusual, but it probably didn’t happen. She did, however, collapse from a stroke in the bathroom — paving the way for Elvis.
1869, Egypt’s Suez Canal opened. While a Frenchman spearheaded the project, the British shortly bought up and then occupied the canal. The British love their navy, and just as they’re keen to keep Gibraltar and control the entrance to the Mediterranean, they aimed to keep the Suez Canal well up to 1956. When President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, Britain allied with France and Israel to invade and take back control. Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed U.N. troops keep the canal open to all. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. Illustrating the difference between the U.S. and our better behaved neighbors to the north, America just started selling pounds sterling to put pressure on the British to stop. The Suez Crisis embarrassed Britain and cemented the United States as the new global power player. The canal itself is only about 100 miles long and saves ships the approximately 3,000 miles it takes to sail south around Africa, but Somali piracy and receding Arctic ice have made alternate routes popular recently. Incidentally, check out “Pirates of the Caribbean on Ice” on YouTube.
1871, the National Rifle Association was founded. Essentially, a few Civil War veterans were upset at accurate rifles being shot like inaccurate muskets. And for all of you who don’t regularly exercise your Second Amendment rights, here’s the difference between a rifle and a musket. A musket shoots a spherical bullet through a smooth barrel, meaning the bullet can tumble, end up anywhere and can’t go very far. A rifle has a grooved barrel and a pointed bullet, so that firing a shot is like throwing a spiraled football. It’s more accurate and can go much farther. A couple world wars and the advent of the sub-machine gun have definitely changed tactics since then. Today, the NRA is right up there with the AARP as far as powerful lobbies in Washington. In just 2010, the Supreme Court declared that the Second Amendment was an individual right that cannot be violated by state governments any more than it can be by the federal government.
1942, American director Martin Scorsese was born. An asthmatic Sicilian-American, Scorsese loved films as a youth. He chose to earn a bachelor’s degree in English and then a master’s in film rather than enter the priesthood. You might know him for a few of his movies: “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed” and “Shutter Island.” He won his first Oscar for his direction of “The Departed.” Scorsese is also a big fan of biopics. Besides “Goodfellas” and “The Aviator,” he has directed documentaries about Bob Dylan and George Harrison and has one forthcoming on Frank Sinatra. (His interest in music meant he was able to supply some of the historic songs played in the “Gangs of New York” soundtrack from his own personal library.) But someone could well make a biopic of Scorsese; he’s pretty interesting. For example, while he admires filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Stanley Kubrick, he’s also a big fan of 3-D. And he’s not big on ball sports — one thing he has in common with many British parks.
1944, American actor Danny DeVito was born. Sorry to do another Italian-American in Hollywood, but it’s Danny DeVito! He got his start playing Martini in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” but went on to play far less dramatic roles. He starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in both “Twins” and “Junior.” (For those of you unfamiliar, the former is about the physically mismatched pair being separated from birth, and the latter is about male pregnancy.) DeVito then went on to star as the Penguin in “Batman Returns” and the dad and narrator in “Matilda.” He’s also leant his voice to movies like “Space Jam” and “Hercules.” He’s produced some great projects, too, including “Pulp Fiction,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Gattaca,” “Garden State” and “Reno 911!” Since 2006, he’s appeared as Frank Reynolds on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” where he plays a character who is pretty much down for doing anything, whether it’s gambling away fingers, waterboarding his daughter or hanging himself. But for all his bizarre and dark humor, DeVito has a stable family life. He’s been married to the redhead from “Cheers” since 1982 and has three children.
